Letter: Name-calling has no place in Amarillo elections

My husband and I have read comments calling those who voted against the Amarillo Recreation Complex selfish, non-progressive, etc. Unless we’re mistaken, we live in a free country, and still have the right to vote our conscience and spend the money we earn on our priorities.

We are not wealthy, but have probably given more to charities and organizations the past few years than many of those calling us, and others like us, names.

To name a few things we support — providing food to those who have little to no food (both locally and internationally); drilling water wells in places that have no running water; sponsoring orphans in other countries so they get an education, decent nutrition and medical help and medical missions to parts of the world who have little/no medical care.

We respect that others have priorities and opinions, and we do not expect them to be the same as ours. However, we would appreciate the same respect.

We believe the bare necessities are more pressing, so this influences how we spend our money (which we work hard to earn) and how we vote. Those extra tax dollars it would have cost for the ARC would reduce what we could donate.